Copycat Casserole

Have you heard of the Cracker Barrel Restaurant, and perhaps even eaten there? Then you’ll know how delicious their Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole is, and can truly appreciate this copycat casserole recipe – it’s even better than the original!

Don’t you just love the Cracker Barrel restaurants with their quaint little rocking chairs and antique tables out front? Their lobbies are often just like the old-fashioned general stores where everyone used to buy food and supplies, including cheese! Walking into one of these places is just like going back in time, and eating at them is even better - you can really enjoy the flavours of old-time home-cooked country meals. But did you know you can now go to Cracker Barrel without ever leaving the house? You can have this lovely comfort food breakfast casserole in the comfort of your own home.

This breakfast casserole has all of the perfect ingredients to soothe your carb and cheese cravings. What a hearty way to start the day! And this cheesy hash brown recipe isn’t very hard to make, either. You might already have some of the ingredients sitting around in your pantry or kitchen cupboard or fridge. Like cheddar cheese? That’s the best to use for this particular cheesy casserole recipe, but you can probably use any kind of cheese you’ve got and it will still taste grand. Or maybe even combine a few different kinds, like cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan. Of course, if you want it to be an exact copycat casserole, then of course stick with the cheddar. But experimenting is always good too, and perhaps you can come up with a bunch of new breakfast casserole recipes of your very own!

Hash browns are another key ingredient for this breakfast casserole recipe. You can use the frozen kind, as this copycat recipe suggests, or you can even make your own, using organic potatoes. How do you do this? Gather together three or four large Russet potatoes, peel, and wash them well. Then you can shred them with a cheese/vegetable grater. Once you’ve shredded all of the potatoes, you can wrap them in a clean cloth and give them a little squeeze to absorb any excess moisture. This is a bit time consuming, but it’s well worth it if you want that fresh potato flavour!

An alternative way to make fresh hash browns for this yummy hash brown casserole recipe is to bake the potatoes first, then shred them with the cheese grater. That way, they’ll be already cooked and will blend into the breakfast casserole recipe much easier – cutting down on the copycat casserole’s overall cooking time. Whichever way you choose, this breakfast hash brown casserole recipe is going to taste pretty darned scrumptious!

If you’re a Cracker Barrel fan, you could even have yourself a little Cracker Barrel theme night potluck and invite all of your friends. Encourage each person attending to bring a home-cooked copycat dish inspired by Cracker Barrel recipe. You could use this one as an example and see what others come up with. You could decorate the house – or garden – with long tables, rocking chairs, and other antique furniture. You could even use antique plates, cutlery, and other items to build the atmosphere. Sound like fun? We sure think so – and it sounds like it could be really appetizing too.

Whether you choose to eat this delectable copycat recipe all by yourself, with your family, or with a crowd, we can say one thing for sure – if you love potato and cheese casseroles, you will not be disappointed.